Thin zipper

ABSTRACT

A thin zipper includes two sets of coil zippers fastened to two base cloths. Each coil zipper includes a plurality of teeth and at least one core wire threading through the teeth and coupling the teeth in series. Each tooth includes a bracing section, two bent sections extended from two distal ends of the bracing section and a surface section. The bracing section has a bracing inner edge on an inner side to brace the core wire. Each bent section has a latch portion engaged with another latch portion of a different tooth. The surface section is located between the two bent sections and has a packing inner edge formed on an inner side to compress the core wire to generate deformation. The bracing inner edge and packing inner edge form an inner space between them at an interval smaller than the diameter of the core wire.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a thin zipper and particularly to a teeth structure for coil zippers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Zippers are widely used on daily life to temporarily couple two flexible elements together, and are mostly employed on clothes, leather goods or other textile products. Based on structures, they mainly can be categorized into coil form and individual form. The coil zippers have many advantages, such as simpler and easier fabrication, lower costs and the like, thus are widely adopted on garment manufacture. The coil zippers are generally formed by crimping polyester filaments, hence also are called polyester zippers. Moreover, they were usually made of nylon in the past, thus also are called nylon zippers.

Various techniques of zippers have been proposed in prior arts, such as R.O.C. patent No. M359953 entitled “Improved zipper tape” which discloses a zipper tape including elongated contiguous teeth and a strip fastened to one side. The teeth include a plurality of light extinction particles each has a plurality of recesses formed on the surface to refract the light so that the entire teeth look like having a mist surface. FIG. 1 in the aforesaid prior art shows a coil zipper. It includes a tape functioning as a base, a plurality of teeth fastened to the tape and a zipper head to engage the teeth. The teeth are thread through by at least one core wire for positioning and aligning. The core wire threads through the coil teeth to brace the inner space of the teeth and couple the teeth in series. Although the inner space of the teeth might be threaded through by a plurality of core wires, there is still extra space remained inside. As a result, deviation of the core wires could take place when being subject to external forces, and the bracing forces of the coil teeth could also be changed. If too much deviation of the core wires takes place, the bracing forces on certain area of the coil teeth could be diminished significantly and result in deformation of the teeth, thus the lifespan of the zipper suffers.

To prevent the deviation problem of the core wire mentioned above, manufacturers try to insert more core wires in the inner space of the coil teeth. While such an approach increases the bracing force for the teeth, fabrication is more difficult, material cost increases, production yield decreases and flexibility of the zipper also suffers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the shortcoming of the conventional zipper that is unable to firmly fix the core wire and results in deviation of the core wire during pulling and dragging of the zipper and causes shortening of the lifespan of the zipper, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved coil zipper with a core wire to firmly fix a plurality of teeth.

The present invention provides a thin zipper which includes two sets of coil zippers fastened to two base cloths. Each set of coil zipper includes a plurality of teeth and at least one core wire threading through the teeth to couple the teeth in series. Each tooth includes a bracing section, two bent sections extended from two distal ends of the bracing section and a surface section. The bracing section leans on the base cloth and has a bracing inner edge on the inner side to brace the core wire. Each bent section has a latch portion engaged with another latch portion of a different tooth. The surface section is located between the two bent sections and has a packing inner edge formed on an inner side through a forming process to compress the core wire to generate deformation. The bracing inner edge and packing inner edge form an inner space between them at an interval smaller than the diameter of the core wire.

With the core wire compressed by the packing inner edge and bracing inner edge, the core wire is fixed firmly to avoid deviation, thus the lifespan of the zipper is longer. Moreover, by compressing the core wire, total thickness of the zipper can be reduced. Hence the compressed core wire of the invention can provide positioning effect superior to the conventional zipper, thus can achieve the same positioning effect with fewer core wires to reduce the material costs.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of two sets of coil zippers coupled by a sliding element.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the teeth structure of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross section of the coil zippers and a sliding element of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention aims to provide a thin zipper which includes two sets of coil zippers 100 and 200 fastened to two pieces of base cloths 5 (shown in FIG. 3) and a sliding element 3 to drive the two sets of coil zippers 100 and 200 to engage with each other. Engaging the two sets of coil zippers 100 and 200 through the sliding element 3 is a technique known in the art, thus details are omitted herein. The coil zippers 100 and 200 have respectively a plurality of coil teeth 1 and 2 that are threaded through and coupled in series by at least one core wire 4. Referring to FIG. 2, take one of the teeth 1 as an example. The tooth 1 includes a bracing section 11, two bent sections 12 extended from two distal ends of the bracing section 11 and a surface section 13 located between the two bent sections 12. The bracing section 11 leans on the base cloth 5 (referring to FIG. 3), and has a bracing inner edge 110 on the inner side to brace the core wire 4. The two bent sections 12 are bent upwards from the two distal ends of the bracing section 11 with one bent section 12 abutting another tooth 2. The bent section 12 abutting another tooth 2 forms a latch portion 121 to engage with another latch portion 221 formed on another tooth 2. The surface section 13 between the two bent sections 12 has a packing inner edge 130 on an inner side through a forming process to compress the core wire 4 to generate deformation. The packing inner edge 130 and bracing inner edge 110 form an inner space 10 between them at an interval smaller than the diameter of the core wire 4. Hence the core wire 4 is compressed tightly in the inner space 10 to be positioned without deviation, thus can enhance the lifespan of the zipper. Also referring to FIG. 3, the surface section 13 has a reinforcing flat surface at the upper edge and the bracing section 11 also has a reinforcing flat surface at the lower edge. The reinforcing flat surfaces form respectively a gap 30 with the sliding element 3 which drives the two sets of coil zippers 100 and 200 to engage with each other. The gap 30 is formed at a height at least greater than a thickness of a stitch 6 sewed around the teeth 1 and 2.

Due to the compression and deformation of the core wire 4, the surface area that the core wire 4 is in contact with the inner edges of the teeth 1 and 2 is greater, thus a more even bracing force is provided. Furthermore, fewer core wires 4 are required on the inner edges of the teeth 1 and 2 to provide the same strength of the zipper. With the coil zippers 100 and 200 threaded by fewer core wires 4, material cost can be reduced and total thickness of the teeth 1 and 2 also can be diminished to achieve a thinner zipper. As a result, the thinner zipper can provide better flexibility and is adaptable to more diversified clothes.

While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

In summation of the above description, the present invention provides a significant improvement over the conventional techniques and complies with the patent application requirements, and is submitted for review and granting of the commensurate patent rights. 

1. A thin zipper, including two sets of coil zippers fastened to two base cloths, each coil zipper including a plurality of teeth and at least one core wire threading through the teeth and coupling the teeth in series, each tooth comprising: a bracing section leaning on the base cloth and including a bracing inner edge on an inner side to brace the core wire; two bent sections extended from two distal ends of the bracing section, each bent section including a latch portion engaged with another latch portion formed on a different tooth; and a surface section located between the two bent sections and including a packing inner edge on an inner side through a forming process to compress the core wire to generate deformation, the bracing inner edge and the packing inner edge forming an inner space between them at an interval smaller than a diameter of the core wire.
 2. The thin zipper of claim 1, wherein the surface section includes an upper edge and the bracing section includes a lower edge that form respectively a reinforcing flat surface.
 3. The thin zipper of claim 2, wherein the reinforcing flat surfaces are respectively spaced from a sliding element which drives the two sets of coil zippers to engage with each other to form a gap between them.
 4. The thin zipper of claim 3, wherein the gap is formed at a height at least greater than a thickness of a stitch sewed around the teeth. 